Nov 14, 2007 4:15 pm US/Eastern
Matsuzaka May Miss Red Sox Trip To Japan
BOSTON (AP) ―
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Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images
Daisuke Matsuzaka might miss the Boston Red Sox's 2008 season opener at the Tokyo Dome.
The Japanese pitcher's wife is expecting their second baby around the time of the March 25-opener against the Oakland Athletics, which was announced Wednesday morning. Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said the team and the commissioner's office were aware of the potential conflict.
"We're hopeful that their second child will be born at such a time to allow him to participate," Lucchino said in a conference call. "We are hopeful, but we do recognize that he has an important obligation with respect to the birth of that child."
Matsuzaka's first child was born in Japan. It's not clear whether the Matsuzakas plan to deliver in Japan or the United States this time.
Before their opening two-game series, the Red Sox and A's also will play exhibition games on March 23-24 against Japanese teams. In addition to Matsuzaka, Boston also has Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima.
After the trip, the teams return to the United States and open the rest of their regular-season schedules with a two-game series at Oakland on April 1-2. That originally was to be a four-game set.
Oakland will be the home team for the games in Japan.
The Japan visit is one of two Asian trips Major League Baseball hopes to make next year. Talks have been under way for months to have the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres play exhibition games in Beijing, most likely on March 14-15, at the ballpark to be used for the 2008 Olympics. That would be Major League Baseball's first trip to China.
If the Beijing games take place, the Dodgers likely would then travel to Arizona for most of their remaining spring training games. Next spring is their last at Vero Beach, Fla., where they first trained in 1949. They switch their training base in 2009 to Glendale, Ariz.
Boston and Oakland will be the third set of teams to open the regular season at the Tokyo Dome, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), and the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004). A scheduled 2003 series between Oakland and Seattle at the Tokyo Dome was canceled because of the threat of war in Iraq.
"Opening our regular season in Japan for the third time is another example of Major League Baseball's commitment to continue the global growth of the game," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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